Dancing queens take over Trundle to relive ABBA glory days

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This was published 10 years ago

Dancing queens take over Trundle to relive ABBA glory days

By Andrew Taylor

Meghan Black wasn't born when Agnetha Faltskog appeared in the music video for ABBA's SOS from their 1975 self-titled album.

But dressed in knee-high white boots, a white mini-skirt, a T-shirt adorned with a blue cat and a blonde wig, the 25-year-old is a dead ringer for the blonde member of the Swedish supergroup.

Super Troupers: Meghan Black, right, and mum Jeanette, rehearse their moves as Agnetha and Frida.

Super Troupers: Meghan Black, right, and mum Jeanette, rehearse their moves as Agnetha and Frida.Credit: Jacky Ghossein

''I might freeze, though,'' Black conceded. ''It's the middle of winter in Trundle.''

With grey skies, rain and a temperature of just 13 degrees forecast for the tiny town in NSW's central west on Saturday, Black might be forced to send out distress signals of her own to stay warm.

At least, she will not be alone.

An estimated 700 people are predicted to descend on Trundle - population 666, 2011 Census figures reveal - for the second Trundle ABBA Festival on Saturday.

Festival organiser Gary Crowley admits the town has no connection with the Swedish supergroup who caused mass hysteria during their 1977 tour of Australia.

But last year's festival was featured in ABC1's ABBA: Bang a Boomerang, which aired earlier this year, and the good burghers of Trundle do not shy away from promoting their town, with help from the public broadcaster.

Last year's ABC1 documentary series Country Town Rescue featured five families enticed to the town for 12 months by the Trundle Tree Change Committee and its offer of rent for $1 a week. ''Things have been happening in Trundle for years,'' Crowley said.

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A sheep and wheat farmer, Crowley said the festival was inspired by the long-running Elvis Festival in nearby Parkes.

Next year's festival would commemorate the 40th anniversary of ABBA winning the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest for Waterloo, and could feature an ABBA-themed train running from Sydney.

Black, who is travelling to Trundle with her parents, will not be the only Agnetha in town.

Asked by daughter Alex Burbidge-Smith to dye her hair to the blondeness of ABBA's Agnetha, Bronwyn McNeil confesses she did ''a shocking job of it''.

However, McNeil, from Canberra, says Alex loves the hair colour she will sport, along with white flared pants and a kimono-style top.

McNeil's daughter has Asperger's syndrome and has been obsessed with the pop group since watching a reality TV show in which all the contestants performed ABBA songs. ''These kids can sometimes feel a little left out,'' McNeil said. ''This is something she can do that's not so weird.''

Several members of the Canberra-based Andante Andante Choir, which sings only ABBA songs and music by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, will also venture to Trundle to perform in the festival's singing contest. There will also be a concert by covers band ABBA's Back, a disco dancing competition and a singing contest.

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